Dog Days
by mara-rabb
Summary: Chapter 2 is up, finally. I don't have time to do anything else with it if anyone just feels the need to add to it, go for it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own JAG and I don't own anything worth suing for... unless of course you want my kids. Have you ever read, "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

Just a one-shot bit of fluff that occurred to me after reading an article about Take Your Dog To Work Day on Friday.

JAG Ops

9:00am local

Wednesday, June 23, 2005

Harm glanced up as Mac sauntered into his office, grinning much like that oft referenced cat. "What do you need, Colonel?" He didn't have time for chit-chat - he was overloaded with new cases and behind on the paperwork of others.

Without breaking stride or losing her grin, which by now had turned into a smirk, she flopped into one of the chairs. "So who are you bringing to work on Friday?"

"Huh?" Harm shook his head. He wasn't in the mood for mind games. "The only person I'm bringing to work is me. Why do you ask ?"

Gleefully waving the papers in front of his face, Mac stated triumphantly, "Friday is bring your dog to work day."

"Maaaac, I don't even HAVE a dog, much less would I even attempt to bring one in here. Do you really want to handle D&D's in Greenland? Unless you've added to your household recently, you don't have a dog either."

"We could go to the pound at lunch..." Mac was bouncing in her seat, but Harm couldn't tell if she really wanted to get a dog, or if she was just enjoying yanking his chain. She was certainly much happier than she had been in a while.

"No, Mac. No pound. No dog. Now can I get back to some real work?" Harm sighed as she stomped out of his office, but not before she had given him her best pout-y face. On impulse he picked up the telephone and started dialing.

JAG Ops

11:20am

Friday, June 24, 2005

Harm was standing in his doorway, checking his watch. His appointment was late and they were fast running out of time before lunch. Just as he had decided to call and reschedule, a short woman backed her way through the doors, carrying a large box. "Good," he thought, "right on time."

He moved to take the box from the woman and handed her an envelope in return. She thanked him and turned to leave.

Harm glanced into Mac's office and was pleased to notice that she was turned away from the door and working on her computer. He checked out the Ops area to see how many people were watching, but discovered that only Harriet was paying any attention at all. He nodded to her and motioned with his head toward Mac's office.. Harriet smiled and turned to watch.

Harm tried to edge over to Mac's door without drawing any attention to himself and kept checking to be certain she didn't turn around. Once at the door, he set the box on the floor and pulled a small ball out of his pocket. Now Harriet was really curious and leaned over for a better view. Harm opened the box and removed a beautiful Collie puppy. He set the puppy on the floor just outside Mac's door. He showed the ball to the puppy and very gently rolled it under Mac's feet. The puppy bounced into the office after the ball, lost her balance on the tile while making the corner around the desk and slid into Mac's legs.

Harm knew he was going to pay later when a very startled Mac screeched and jumped to her feet. Looking down at what had startled her, her face immediately softened, "Hey, baby, how did you manage to get in here?" She picked up the puppy, looked around, and caught Harm peeking around the doorframe.

"She yours?" Mac asked, smiling.

"No. She's yours." Harm grinned wickedly. "After your performance the other day, I made a few calls and managed to locate a breeder in Maryland. Just so you would have someone to keep you company for 'bring your dog to work day'.

Mac buried her face into the soft fur of the puppy. When she looked up, Harm could swear he saw a tear. "Thank you, Harm. I've always loved Collies - from about the time I was little AJ's age and read my first Lassie book. I'd better use my lunch to run her home before-"

"Attention on deck." Harm and Mac cringed when they heard Petty Officer Coates call them to attention. Mac gently dropped the pup back into her box and kicked the flaps back over the top as she straightened up.

"As you were,"the General said as he walked through Ops.

They almost got away with it. Just as the General passed Mac, the pup decided she'd had quite enough of being stuffed in a box for the day and tried to jump over the rim. She got hung on the top and fell out, tipping the box in the process.

General Cresswell stopped. Looked at the dog, looked at Harm and Mac, then looked back at the dog. "This had better be evidence in one of your cases."

Harm had never seen Mac completely speechless before. While they were trying to come up with a reasonable excuse, the pup busied herself chewing on the Admiral's laces. He bent down and lifted her up and held her at eye level. "None of that, hear? Which of you does she belong to?"

Mac was still struggling for words so Harm came to her rescue. "I apologize for the disruption, sir. It was a joke that got out of hand. Mac was showing me where it was "bring your dog to work day" and I thought I would surprise her."

"I was just about to leave to take her home, sir," Mac added.

Cresswell looked at the pup again and glanced at Harm. "Pretty expensive for a joke." Then he turned to Mac. "Do you actually want a puppy, Colonel? She's got good breeding and we've been looking for another dog since we lost our Golden Retriever in March."

Mac wondered if letting him have the pup would get them out of trouble, then decided it was worth it. "I've already fallen in love with her, sir. Would you be too angry if I took her home?"

Harm came to the rescue once again. "I've still got the number for her breeder, sir. I think there are still several available, if you are interested?" At the General's nod, Harm hurried back to his office.

The General turned back and handed the pup to Mac, straightening up to his full command presence but he couldn't keep the twinkle out of his eyes. "Colonel, get this dog out of my building."

As she breezed past Harm's office, Mac whispered, "Come over tonight and help me figure out what to name her."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own JAG and I don't own anything worth suing for... unless of course you want my kids. Have you ever read, "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

This was supposed to be one chapter and we're done, but I guess it's back by popular demand. This is going to have to be the end of it though because I just don't have time to finish this properly. If someone else wants to run with it, feel free.

I apologize for the massive delay. Real life caught up with me in spades. Remember I said I didn't have time for a long story? I don't have enough time for a short one either. I tried to get this ready so I didn't have to agonize over it anymore. It is now 2:01 am so I'm sure there are typo's. I ran a spell-check but that doesn't cover everything. My fault and I apologize.

Thank you for your reviews - I wasn't sure if this was going to fly, but apparently it did very well. Yes, I know how big a collie gets. We just lost our Golden Retriever/Chow mix so I know all about large and fuzzy dogs. We are the proud new owners of 2 collie puppies, but we can't pick them up until July 22nd. As for the apartment, I figure Mac runs pretty much daily and once the puppy gets big enough they can go out together.

1800 Local

Georgetown, Virginia

Harm approached Mac's apartment with mixed degrees of delight and trepidation. The look on her face when he had told her the pup was hers was worth the dressing down he had received while Mac was out of the office. Fortunately, the General was in a forgiving mood and had let him off rather easily. The worst of it had been as he was headed out the door when the General commented, "AJ told me to watch our for you two." Harm was afraid to question the meaning of that statement too deeply.

He set down the bag of dog food and knocked. He wasn't surprised when the door opened almost immediately. They'd barely had a chance to talk that afternoon and he was sure she had some words for him. Whether they were good or bad, well, that was the real question.

Mac let him into the house, still trying to figure out what to say to him. One part of her brain was furious with him for the embarrassment in front of the General. The other part was madly in love with the puppy and thrilled that he had gone out on a limb like that to make her happy. Maybe there was hope for them yet.

"Good Lord, Harm, what did you do? Rob PetsMart?" In addition to a medium sized bag of Eukanuba puppy food, Harm was carrying a couple of huge bags.

He grinned. "Not quite. I stopped by Applebee's and picked up something for dinner and this is just a few things to get you going. The plan was for you to take this stuff with you earlier but the General kind of killed that idea." He began unloading the bag onto her kitchen table. Mac watched as the pile on her table grew to massive proportions. A food bowl. A water bowl. A collar and leash. A handful of squeak toys. Two balls. Dog chews. A small dog bed. Brushes and combs. A book with the obnoxious title, **Puppies for Dummies**.

"Dummies?" Mac pointed to the book She couldn't help herself.

"Hell, Mac. It's been decades since I had anything to do with a puppy and I'm sure it's been equally long for you.."

A sad look crossed her face. "I've never had a puppy. The couple of dogs we had when I was growing up were strays that wandered in. They never lasted too long though. They'd get underfoot when my dad was in a rage and he'd toss them out. And Jingo was old when I got him."

She always managed to surprise him. As much as Harm thought he knew about her childhood, even after almost 10 years, there was always something new to learn. Damn Joseph and Deanna Mackenzie for not letting Mac have a normal childhood. "Puppies are a different breed than a grown dog. Especially Jingo. He was trained to be obedient. This little girl is going to give you fits for a while. I picked a Collie for a couple of reasons. They are incredibly intelligent so she should be fairly easy to train. She going to be a big girl, and they are a herding breed so she's going to need a good amount of exercise. You guys can play in the park until she gets a little bigger, then she can go running with you in the mornings. She'll love that. I couldn't picture you with one of those little yappy dogs that are only good for decoration.

Mac smiled and patted Harm on the arm. "Like that little thing Paris Hilton totes around with her all the time? No thanks. I think you made the right choice."

" I really wasn't angling for you to buy me a dog," Mac walked over to stand next to Harm, "but I'm glad you did." She reached over and gave him a short hug. "Why don't we eat while she's sleeping and then we can try to come up with a name for her."

They unloaded the bag of food. He had brought the Shrimp and Spinach bowl for himself and a plate of riblets for Mac, They sat on her couch and ate in silence for a while before Harm remembered. "Oh, I almost forgot," he reached into his pocked and pulled out his wallet. "I picked this up for you, too." He handed her a PetsMart gift card. "Just in case I forgot anything or you can use it to have her groomed. I also talked to Harriet after you left. She said that anytime you need to go TAD you're welcome to leave her with them. Of course, I'm always available too."

A part of Mac wanted to protest that he was doing too much, but over the years, she had learned the hard way that Harm didn't say what he was feeling. He showed you. Maybe it was time she started watching rather than listening. "Thank you. For..." the words just seemed so inadequate considering all he had done for her this year, "everything, And I promise, if we're not gone together you get first option to dog-sit for me."

Harm smiled. It seemed like this was the first thing he'd done right in a long time. It was worth every cent he'd paid. Mac leaned into his side giving him the courage to move to a more sideways position on the couch. He shifted his legs so that she was leaning against his chest. It was encouraging that she wasn't pulling away. They sat together without speaking for almost half an hour before Mac realized they hadn't named the pup.

"What are we going to call her?" she asked.

"Hmm. Harm thought for a minute. With us being military we ought to be able to come up with something fitting. Reville is already taken by that mutt down in Texas (A/N: As a 1988 graduate of Texas A&M, I love Rev dearly, but I can see a graduate of the Naval Academy feeling differently).

After both of them made a few suggestions of regular "dog" names, which just didn't seem to fit, Mac had an idea. "The last movie we saw together was **The Lord of the Rings**. Why don't we name her Arwen?"

Harm thought about it for a minute. He got up an walked to the other side of the apartment, Mac watching in confusion. "ARRRRRRR Wennnnn," he yelled. He walked back to the couch nodding his head. "It could work. It's not hard to call - sounds good. Do you really like it?"

Mac nodded her head. "I think it's perfect. It's something we both liked and it gives her the majesty she needs. Something better than "Lady", every town has hundreds of them."

Harm smiled and pulled her back into his chest. "So," he asked, feeling the nerves tighten up in his throat, " does this mean we're in this together?"

Mac smiled as she thought about all that could mean. And for once she wasn't scared by it. "Sounds like a plan to me."

Harm smirked as he looked over to where the pup was beginning to wake from her nap. "If she's both of ours, who is going to take her outside?"


End file.
